The object of the present invention is a movable seat for a vehicle, which can be rigidly joined to the floor of the vehicle, or be separate from it, either totally so as to make the seat movable, or partially so as to make it possible, for example, to pivot it forward by tilting it.
Tiltable seats are mainly used as front seats in two-body or three-body automobile vehicles to make it possible to gain access to the back seats more easily, but they can also be used as second row seats in single-body type vehicles.
Movable seats are normally used as back seats in single-body type vehicles, typically as third row seats, but also as second row seats when the tilting function is not required.
For safety reasons, it must be possible to rigidly join these seats, under normal use, to the floor of the vehicle. Furthermore, it must be possible to easily remove or tilt them without requiring tools.
As a result, these seats typically include a manually unlockable fixing mechanism. Seats including such mechanisms are known of in which the feet of the seat's frame end with a fork-shaped piece which overlaps a fastening rod fixed to the floor, said rod connecting the two opposite edges of an opening with a U-shaped cross-section cut in the floor. The locking member making it possible to secure this foot against the floor, or to separate it, then consists of a sort of hook mounted on said fork-shaped piece in a pivoting manner, with its end free to penetrate said opening so as to be locked beneath said rod, this hook being maneuvered by appropriate means.
Other fixing means are known of in which the pivoting hook, instead of latching onto a separate rod, as indicated above, latches directly beneath a reinforced edge of the opening provided in the floor.
One disadvantage of these mechanisms is that, due to its hook-like shape, the piece which ensures the locking essentially works by bending in the curved part of said hook and tends to open when it is subject to stresses tending to separate the seat from the floor. The opening of the hook creates a certain play in the link and can lead to the unlocking of the seat.